TheDeSocios.com

I’ve thought a lot lately about blogging. Up until now, that’s all I’ve done (duh). I’ve avoided it for one reason or another – claiming that people don’t really want to know what’s going on in my head, that I’m too self-conscious to share my thoughts, fears, and dreams to strangers, that “bloggers” assume everyone actually cares about their trivial lives when no one does… the list could go on.

But… here I am. I changed my mind for various reasons. One is a little conceited. Last June we had a baby, and I’m convinced that everyone wants to know what he is doing and looks like ALL the time. Yes, sadly, I’ve become that deranged mother (grandparents rejoice!). The other big reason is that my husband and I are trying to start a new church in our town. We aren’t doing it alone of course. We had our first core group meeting a few months ago, and there are about 20 people committed or seriously considering a commitment. But I think I, as Sam’s wife, am going to have a unique view on how this whole thing goes down. I hope that this can someday be an encouragement to other families as they start down similar roads, or for anyone who wants to keep tabs on this crazy family.

So some people might be asking themselves why go through all the trouble to start a new church, especially when there are other churches in an area that are struggling. Why go through all the hassle to organize, and raise support, and connect with new people, when it’s easier to stay where you are?
Here are a few more reasons:

New resources- It’s a fundraising truth that you will get more people to give to a new project than an old one, sure there are non profits who, over a number of years, have built up a steady stream of donors, but thats not a norm. For the most part people invest more in helping dreams take shape, than they do in keeping a struggling project afloat. When you start a new church it will stir up new resources than might not have been utilized before. (This includes peoples talents, their money, and even venues.)

reNewed energy – This is kind of connected to new resources, but often new churches create a pioneering spirit which causes people to be more energized about what they are doing. There might be people who are content with helping in existing ministry, but often a new project is the spark that helps reinvigorate them.

New perspective on neighborhoods challenges – Often older churches have come to understand their surrounds from a certain vantage point. Sometimes what this means is that they can be biased toward certain ideas or methods. New churches will accept new ways of dealing with the challenges of a neighborhoods because they have different biases. For example while many older churches gave away clothes and other goods, which in the long run kept people in a state of dependance. New churches began to consider the idea of subsidized sales which gave people a different sense of value associated with their goods, and allowed them to develop healthier values about money. Of course we have to realize that sometimes there are very good reasons for sticking with a certain way of doing things.

These are just a few of the many reasons why starting new churches is a good thing.
(For the record I understand that this list could probably be applied to most volunteer organization)

Place for new Christians

Frequently, established church have pressure placed on them to care for the needs of the people already present, this means that often the older a church is the more time it ends up spending on programs and services intended to care for and retain its existing members. This doesn’t mean that older churches don’t care for new Christians, it just means that often they are better equipped at training more mature Christians.

Intentional reevaluation
The old saying “foundations are forever” means that when you start a new church, it is important to examine what cultural foundations you will be laying. New churches have the unique opportunity to reevaluate customary ways of doing church, with less fear that they might divide a church over any issue. This reevaluation gives does two things: First, it lets new churches establish new traditions. Second, it gives new churches the freedom to connect to the historic church in ways that the previous generation of churches might have seen as undesirable, or unattainable.

New Opportunities for Service In many existing churches the pathway into service and/or leadership is often a fairly long and complicated one. Church tenure is often expected before a member is invited to or allowed to influence a church’s culture. This can often hinder how well a long-established church ministers to new groups in their area. New churches offer opportunities that are often absent in established churches. This is especially true when a new church is reaching a new group of people or a new generation.

I have been spending alot of time thinking about the church recently, and more specifically the purpose of the church.

At RPTS I was told that the purpose of the New Testament Church, was to worship. Even in seminary, I saw some flaws in this understanding. Over the last year I have become more convince that worship is not the purpose of the church. Here is why I do not see the worship as the purpose of the church, it presupposes that the culmination of Chris’t kingdom has already happened. While, I do think it is appropriate to say that we were created with the purpose of worshipping God, making this the purpose of the church does not take into account the impact of sin, and the plan of redemption. Please don’t think that I trying to remove the importance of worship in the life of the church. Read More

I want to discuss what things would be helpful in seeing more churches planted in Pittsburgh. Remember that I am speaking from my context within the PCA, but I don’t think that any of my points are necessarily limited to only the PCA. I admit that I am not an expert in the topic of church planting, but at the very least I think I could be called an avid supporter or a student of church planting. Most of the suggestions that I am going to make are coming from listening to other wiser church planters, men like Roland Allen, Harvie Conn, Bill Krispin, Tim Keller, Dick Kauffman, Bruce Finn, Ed Stetzer, and Mark Driscoll.
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